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[Pages 86-87]
      Thorpe, George, was a native of Gloucestershire and the son of Nicholas Thorpe of Wanswell Court. He was related both in blood and by marriage with some of the distinguished men of the Jamestown colony, and among others with Sir Thomas Dale. The Thorpe family was a prominent one and our subject became a gentleman pensioner, a gentleman of the privy chamber of the king and a member of parliament from Portsmouth. He was a man of strong religious feeling and became greatly interested in the problem of the conversion of the savages with which his countrymen were newly coming into contact in the new world. He formed a partnership with Sir William Throckmorton, John Smith of Nibley, Richard Berkeley and others for the ownership and conduct of a private plantation in Virginia, and selling his English property, he set sail for Virginia, where he arrived March, 1620. He was appointed deputy to govern the college land and to have three hundred acres and ten tenants, and on June 28, 1620, he was made a member of the council. The advent of this friend of the Indians in Virginia was coincident with the formation of the great Indian plot against the English of 1621-22, and there are some who hold that his disinterested friendship for the red man was an aid to them in their undertaking. Thorpe certainly displayed the most complete faith in his dusky charges and visited them in the forest, discussing religion with Opochankano, from which he derived great encouragement for the hope of their final conversion. Thorpe's interest were not confined to the Indians, however, as the following letter received by him from the company in 1621 will show: "And to you, Mr. Thorpe, we will freely confesse that both your letter and endeavors are most acceptable to us; the entering upon the staple comodoties of wine and silk we highly commend, and assure you it is the Companie's care to reward your merit. * * * In the meantime they desire you to proceed in these noble courses assuring you of all love and respect." In spite of this, however, it would seem that his attention was chiefly given to the colony's relations with the savages, especially in regard to the conversion of the latter. His manner of winning their friendship was certainly worthy of his professions and even went to the length of building a handsome house in the English style for Opochankano and putting to death a number of English mastiffs of which the Indians had expressed fear. It was certainly one of the blackest stains on the Indian character to be found in all the white man's dealings with him that, when, on March 22, 1621-22, the colonists were surprised in the great massacre, George Thorpe was not spared, but was murdered with every circumstance of remorseless cruelty. Thorpe was twice married, first to Margaret, a daughter of Sir Thomas Porter and after her death to Margaret, a daughter of David Harris, who survived him.

Upon the next two names in the list of councillors, the records have but little to say, they are those of

[Page 87]
      Middleton, David, councillor, 1620, and

[page 87]
      Blewit, Mr., councillor, 1620, whose Christian name is not given.

[Page 87]
      Tracy, William, was one of those who formed with Thorpe, Berkeley and others a company to conduct a private plantation in Virginia. He is believed by Alexander Brown, author of "the Genesis of the United States," to have been the son of Sir John Tracy. It is probable that he came to Virginia at the same time that Thorpe did, the latter arrived in March, 1620, as on June 28, of the same year he was, along with Thorpe, appointed a member of the colonial council. The following September he sailed in the ship "Supply," with emigrants for Berkeley Hundred, now Berkeley, Charles City county. There is no direct record of his death, but it is evident that he did not even live to witness the terrible massacre by the Indians which brought death, in 1622, to his friend and partner, Thorpe, and to so many of the colonists, as the records of the company state, under date of July, 1621, that the news of his death had been received in England. But although Tracy himself escaped the horror, one of his daughters, who had married Capt. Nathaniel Powell, was not so fortunate, but was killed with her husband in that dreadful affair.

[Page 87]
      Harwood, William, came to Virginia about 1620, and on June 28, of that year, the Virginia Company appointed him, as "Mr. Harwood the chief of Martin's Hundred," a member of the council, along with George Thorpe, William Tracy and others. In a letter dated Aug. 21, 1621, the company again speaks of him as "governor of Martin's Hundred," and in another letter of Jan. 10, 1622, the authorities of Virginia are informed by the company that the adventurers of Martin's Hundred desired that Mr. Harwood might be spared from the office of councillor, their business requiring his presence continually. He was probably a relative of Sir Edward Harwood, a distinguished soldier, who was a member of the Virginia Company and in 1619 presented a petition to that body in behalf of the proprietors of Martin's Hundred. An examination of Sir Edward's will, however, shows no reference to him.

[Pages 87-88]
      Pountis, John, was appointed councillor on June 28, 1620, and again, in the instructions to Governor Wyatt, July 24, 1621, his name was included among those upon whom that honor was to be conferred. At a meeting of the Virginia Company on July 10, 1621, it was moved that some "place of command" should be bestowed upon Mr. John Pountis, "as well in respect of he own worth and sufficiency, as also in reward of his pains and endeavors in the company's service," and "for so much as there was a great use of a vice-admiral in Virginia to take care of the company's ships that came thither, and other matters thereunto appertaining," it was recommended that he be "therefore appointed Vice Admiral, which was done." Under date Nov. 14, 1621, the minutes of the Virginia Company say, that "in regard to the worth and services of Mr. John Pountis, it had pleased the Company to confer upon him the place of Vice Admiral, provisionally, as by his Commission dated the 21st of July last might appear, the said appointment is now confirmed, and a competant proportion of land for that office is to be allotted him." Upon Nov. 21, the length of his term of office was fixed at three years. In March, 1623-24, Pountis was present, as a councillor, at a meeting of the assembly. the Virginia assembly having prepared replies to certain defamatory petitions circulated by the commissioners whom the King had sent over, and also a petition to his majesty, and some other papers all of which they wished to have safely transmitted to England, entrusted them to "Mr. John Pountis, Councillor of state, going to England (being willing by our intreatie to accept that employment) to solicite the general cause of the country to his Majesty and Counsell." It was ordered that, to defray the expenses of the worthy councillor's voyage, he should be paid four pounds of tobacco per capita for every male resident in Virginia, above the age of sixteen years. Mr. Pountis died on board shp before reaching his journey's end. His executor was his cousin, Sir Thomas Merry.

[Pages 88-89]
      Bohun, Laurence, "long time brought up amongst the most learned Surgeons and Physicians in the Netherlands," came to Virginia with Lord Delaware in 1610. His lordship, writing from Jamestown on July 7, of that year, says "Dr. Boone whose care and industrie for the preservation of our lives (assaulted with strange fluxes and agues) we have just cause to commend to your favors * * * * since we have true experience how many mens lives these phisicks helpes have preserved since coming in, God so blessed the practice and diligence of the Doctor." On March 28, of the next year, Dr. Bohun left Virginia with Lord Delaware for the "Western Isles" and thence accompanied him home to England. Prior to Feb. 2, 1620, the doctor with James Swift and others, was granted a patent in consideration of transporting 300 persons to Virginia, and on Dec. 3, of the same year, he was appointed "Phisitian General for the Colony," and was allotted 500 acres and twenty tenants. It seems to have been at this time also that Bohun, who was then in Virginia, was appointed councillor. Towards the end of March, 1621, he sailed for England in the ship "Margaret and John" and was mortally wounded by a Spanish man-of-war with which his vessel had a severe combat in the West Indies. Seeing him fall, Capt. Chester, commander of the "Margaret and John," embraced him and said, "O Dr. Bohun, what a disaster is this." The "Noble Doctor, no whit exanimated replyed, 'fight it out brave men, the cause is good, and the Lord receive my soule.'" This fight caused great excitement and reports of it were published in London and Amsterdam. Upon July 16, 1621, the Virginia Company had received news of the death of "Dr. Bohun of the Counsel in Virginia," and on Oct. 3, of that year, his widow, Mrs. Alice Bohun, petitioned the company that, "as her husband in his lifetime was at great charge, as she supposes for the providing and transporting of servants into Virginia," she might be allowed some annual contribution, and also that her son, Edward Barnes, who was bound to serve the company for seen years, might be released. Both applications were rejected, the company stating that it, and not Dr. Bohun was at the said costs and charges, and that Edward Barnes was the company's servant and could not be set free.

[Page 89]
      Smith, Capt. Roger, who "served for twelve or thirteen years in the wars in the Low Countries," is first known to us as commanding a company of infantry under Sir Francis Vere, in 1592. His earliest voyage to Virginia was in the year 1616. In November, 1619, when he had been in the colony "about some three years" he sailed thence for England again, and while there made complaint to the Virginia Company of Sir George Yeardley's treatment of him. At a meeting of the company Dec. 16, 1620, an entry was made that Capt. Roger Smith being desirous to go this present voyage to Virginia, moved that he might have the charge of some of those people now sent to the company's tenants, and further, that the company would be pleased to bestow upon him some means to make him the better fit for the said voyage; for as much therefore as the said Captain Smith is recommended to be a gentleman very fitting for that employment, and in regard to his good experience already (having been heretofore in Virginia about three years) might thereby do the company great service, the court was pleased for his better encouragement to give him £30 freely, to furnish him with necessarys, and ordered that he should have the command of fifty persons now transported to Virginia to be tenants upon the Company's land." Captain Smith sailed for the colony in Feb., 1621, and on July 24, of the same year, he was appointed a member of the council there. On March 22, 1623 the Indians killed five men near his plantation in Charles city county, and in April he was engaged in building a block house. Smith married Jane Pierce the widow of John Rolfe and, with his wife, was living in Jams City in 1625. The last mention of him is on Nov. 30, 1629, where he was still a member of the council.

[Pages 89-90]
      Sandys, George, was the youngest son of Dr. Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, and was born in the archiepiscopal palace of Bishopsthorpe, near York. His godfathers were George, Earl of Cumberland and William, Lord Ewer, and his godmother, Catherine, Countess of Huntington. In England, Sandys was one of the most distinguished men of letters of his time, and he has the honor of having produced the first book ever written on American soil, a translation of parts of Ovid and Vergil. He was an unusually precocious student and entered Oxford University at the age of twelve. In 1610 he started on a two years' journey through the East, visiting Italy, Turkey, Greece, Egypt and the Holy Land. Upon his return to England, he published an account of his travels which he dedicated to "The Prince" as he always called Charles I. who had then been reigning about a year. This work became very popular and in 1673 reached a seventh edition. Sandys and members of his family were connected with the Virginia Company in the capacity of stockholders during the whole of its existence. He was a friend of Southampton, who, upon his resignation as treasurer of Virginia in 1621, recommended his election to fill the vacant office. He was forthwith elected and later, on April of the same year, his election was confirmed. He shortly after went to the colony where there was granted him 1500 acres with fifty tenants for the maintenance of his office. Shortly after his arrival, he received a rhymed letter from his friend, Michael Drayton, the poet, urging him to continue his poetic and literary efforts, but truly Virginia at the time seemed hardly a fit dwelling for the muse. It was unable to raise enough food for its own subsistence and had to depend upon a disappointed and unwilling mother country. Education was also in a most rudimentary state, but in the autumn of 1621, £100 were subscribed by members of the ship's company of the "Royal James," an East Indiaman, to be expended for a church or free school. The latter was erected accordingly with a thousand acres for its maintenance and called the East India School after its donors. It was the first free school in the country. In the early part of the following year there was established, on account of the scattered population, which rendered it difficult for persons in the outlying districts to reach easily a court of law, a system of precinct courts, which afterwards took the form of county courts . It was in 1621 that the great dispute in England between King and commons began which threw the country into a ferment which led eventually to civil war. It happened that many prominent members of the Virginia Company took sides in this dispute with the people so that the ill will of the King became directed against the whole company to a degree most prejudicial to the colony. In addition to this the relations with the Indians were daily becoming more strained, and altogether the period was a stormy one for the colony. The Indian trouble culminated in the dreadful massacre of March 22, 1622, an account of which Sandys sent home to England. He also took an active part in the operations which the English set on foot against the red neighbors for the purpose of revenge and chastisement. The reputation of the treasurer seems to have been unassailed. In none of the old records is there to be found an adverse criticism of him and he unquestionably enjoyed the respect of all. He spent some time in the colony but eventually returned to England, though the precise date is unknown, and was made a "Gentleman of the King's Privy Chamber." In 1636 he published a "Paraphrase upon the Psalms of David and upon the Hymns dispersed throughout the Old and New Testaments." Sandys was a fruitful author and after his return published a considerable volume of work which met with the hearty approval of the critics and literateurs of the day. Among others, Pope declared in his notes to the "Iliad" that "English poetry owed much of its present beauty" to Sandy's translations. He was very popular and enjoyed the friendship of the great authors of his time, and seems to have been noted as much for the sweetness of his character as for his scholarship. He spent the last years of his live at Boxley Abbey in Kent, the home of Gov. Wyatt, whose wife was Sandys' niece. Here he died in March, 1643.

[Page 90-91]
      Paulett, Robert, came to Virginia in January, 1621, as preacher, physician and surgeon to the "adventurers" at Berkeley Hundred, and on July 16, of the same year, the Virginia Company elected him a member of the council. Governor Wyatt and the councillors, writing Jan., 1621-22, say that they have not sworn "Mr. Pawlett," and add "of whom we are doubtful, ther ebeing two of that name." Their hesitation was the occasion of no inconvenience, however as Paulett, finding that the adventurers by whom he was employed felt that their business required his constant presence, declined the honor of a seat in the council of state. He probably died before the month of April, 1623. He was doubtless a near kinsman of Capt. Thomas Paulett (q. v.)

[Page 91]
      Newce, Sir William, a brother of Capt. Thomas Newce, of the council, is first mentioned in the records of the Virginia Company or April 12, 1621, under which date they declare that "out of a generous disposition" towards the "general plantation in Virginia," and "being induced thereto by reason of a good success he had in Ireland upon a like worthy action," Capt. William Newce "hath freely offered to the company to transport at his own cost and charges 1,000 persons into Virginia, betwixt this and midsummer 1625 — to be planted and employed upon a certain plantation, and intendeth to go over himself in person, the better to direct and govern his own people, over whom he prays he may be appointed as General; and to that end desireth a patent with the portion of land and with such large and complete privilege as are usually granted to others in the like kind, and also desires the company would grant him the place of marshall of Virginia, which office he effected the rather because he hath ever been exercised in military affairs and arms, as may appear by his many worthy services performed in Ireland well known to divers honorable persons in this Kingdom, who have testified the same upon their own knowledge to his exceeding great commendation." He also asked to be allowed fifty men as tenants upon the land attached to said office, and offered to transport them to Virginia and furnish them with clothing and necessary implements for £8 per man. His various requests were granted by the company, and he was elected to the office of marshall on May 2, 1621. On June 11, of the same year, it was reported to the Virginia Company that the king had conferred the honor of knighthood upon Newce, whom his majesty was pleased to style his "Knight Marshall of Virginia, and hopeth to have a better account of his doings than he hath had of others hitherto." the knight had served in Ireland at the siege of Kinsale in May, 1605, and afterwards led a company of Irish to join the Spanish service. In May, 1609, he was accused of being in a scheme to deliver Sluys, Flushing and other towns, held by the Dutch, to the archduke. He seems to have been cleared of these charges, however, and was soon again in Ireland, where he became the first mayor of the town of Bandon, and laid out Newce's Town, opposite Bandon. He was knighted at Theobalds, May 31, 1621, was appointed a member of the Virginia council on June 13, of the same year, and came over with Sir Francis Wyatt in October. George Sandys wrote that Sir William Newce brought with him "a very few weak and unserviceable people, ragged, and not above a fortnight's provisions, some bound for three years, and most upon wages." The "Knight Marshall" died within two months after his arrival in the colony. William Capps, in a grumbling letter written in March, 1623, calls him "Sir William Naughtworth."

[Page 92]
      Pott, John, councillor and deputy governor (q. v.)

[Page 92]
      Percy or Piercy, Abraham, merchant came to Virginia in the ship "Susan" in 1626 and was for a number of years certainly between 1619 and 1623, cape-merchant and treasurer of the colony. At the time of Argall's suspension from the office of admiral of Virginia, he appointed Persey, "the Cape-merchant," his vice-admiral, but this the Virginia Company held he had no power to do and instructed the governor and council of Virginia to make the appointment. Persey was a member of the house of burgesses in 1622, and on October 24, 1623, was appointed by the king one of the commissioners to examine the affairs in Virginia. The following year he was appointed to the council and held his seat in that body until his death in 1628. Persey was undoubtedly one of the riches men in the colony and his estate was for some time a bone of contention between his heirs. Its seizure by Governor Harvey was one of the numerous acts of that gentleman which aroused the ire of the colonists and finally led to his deposing. He married Frances, widow of Capt. Nathaniel West, and she married thirdly Capt. Samuel Mathews. She was probably a daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton.

[Page 92]
      Lapworth, Michael, Nothing is known of Michael Lapworth further than that the Virginia Company appointed him a member of the council in 1621 and that he appears to have come to Virginia. The company, writing under date of July 25, 1621 to the colonial authorities, say "and here againe we renew our commendation of Mr. Lapworth and that in a very effective manner."

[Pages 92-93]
      Madison, Isaac, came to Virginia in 1608, only a year after the founding of Jamestown, and was employed in exploring the country and probably in making maps, etc. He went to England in 1620 and while there, on July 10, 1621, the Virginia Company, in recognition f his services in the colony, presented him with two shares in the company. He seems to have returned to Virginia shortly, for immediately after the massacre of 1622, we find him actively employed against the Indians and becoming one of the best known soldiers of the colony. About the first of July, 1622, the governor sent Capt. Isaac Madison with thirty odd men to the Patomac, where it was thought corn could be purchased from the friendly Indians and a possible alliance with them be formed against the hostile tribes. Madison conducted the affair very badly, and, notwithstanding orders to the contrary was soon at odds with the well disposed savages. He was led into this by tales of a conspiracy on the part of the Indians which, though quite unfounded, moved him into an indefensible treachery against them whereby he captured the chief and his son and killed many of their unfortunate tribesmen. The captive were finally ransomed for a quantity of corn. Such perfidy did not pass altogether unnoticed by the better men among the colonists, and a complaint was taken to court which bitterly denounced Madison and his confederates. Proceedings were about to be instituted against them, but Madison left for England at about this time. But Madison's act was not as unpopular as it deserved to be. After the massacre of 1622, people felt that there was nothing to bad for the Indians and they lacked discrimination to except the tribes who were not responsible for the outrage. It thus happened that Madison became quite a hero with a large element of the populace. Madison's stay in England was a short one and he soon returned to Virginia and once more took part in the colony's affairs, being even employed again against the Indians. He was commissioned a member of the council, Aug. 26, 1624, but probably died before his commission reached him.

[Page 93]
      Farrar or Ferrar, William, was probably William Ferrar, who was a younger son of Nicholas Ferrar, an eminent merchant of London and a distinguished member of the Virginia Company, and a brother of John and Nicholas Ferrar, who were both deputy treasurers of the company, the latter being also M. P. In certain verses of John Ferrar, Jr., grandson of the Elder Nicholas, "William Ferrar," of Virginia, is referred to as "honored kinsman." The infant colony had no more useful friend than the Ferrar family, and William Ferrar, who is said to have been a barrister, had come himself to Virginia in or before 1621, as in that year he was living there. On March 14, 1625, he was appointed a councillor and his commission was renewed in March, 1627-28. On April 29, 1635, he was one of the councillors who deposed Harvey. He died in or before 1637, leaving descendants.

[Page 93]
      Tucker, William, was born in 1589 and came to Virginia in the "Mary and James" in 1610. He became a member of the Virginia Company in 1620 and was elected to the house of burgesses in 1623-24. He became a councillor on March 4, 1625-26 and was again included in the commission to the council under Yeardley, March 22, 1627-28. He was appointed by the king one of the commissioners to supervise the government of Virginia in 1623. He was for long the principal man in Elizabeth City county and had taken an active part in the defense of the colony against the Indians. In August, 1633, Tucker, then in England, presented a memorial to the privy council, in which he endeavored to show that Dutch trade with Virginia, if allowed, would result in great loss to the king and prejudice to the plantation. It is not surprising that Tucker, as an English trade, should take this view since the Dutch offered a much larger price to the planters for their tobacco than what he had been in the habit of paying, and thus would cut the profits of its sale in Europe. Tucker must have died some time before Feb. 17, 1644, when his will was proved in London. He left three children: William, Thomas and Mary.

[Pages 93-94]
      Utie, John, first appears in Virginia in Feb., 1623, when Ensign John Utie is returned in the census as living at Hog Island with his wife and son John, then an infant. In the year following, he had a grant of 100 acres on the south side of James river, and in 1629 was burgess for the plantations between Archer's Hope and Martin's Hundred and for Hog Island in 1629-30. On May 29, 1630, Governor Harvey writes that since his (Harvey's) arrival in Virginia, he had added Captain John Utie to the council, and on December 20, 1631, Utie was one of the signers of the accord between the government and council. On Oct. 8, 1630, a resolution of the council stated that Capt. John West and John Utie had "seated" the first settlement on the York river, and ordered that they should each receive 600 acres there for so doing. later Capt. Utie added largely to his estate in that region and named his whole property "Utiemaria." When Harvey's misgovernment became unbearable, Utie was one of the leaders of the opposition to him and took part in the final scene which ended in the governor's deposition. When the governor struck George Menifie on the shoulder and told him he arrested him in the king's name for high treason, Utie, according to Harvey's own statement, struck him (the governor) "a very great and violent stroke upon the shoulder and said with a loud voice, 'I arrest you for treason,'" whereupon the rest of the councillors crowded about Harvey and laid hold of him. It seems likely that the cause of the councillors laying hold of Harvey was, as is stated in Mathews' account, because on Utie's rejoinder, the governor's rage became so violent that they were obliged to restrain him to prevent harm being wrought. An act so extreme on the part of the colonists did not, of course, pass unnoticed by the authorities in England and, on Dec. 22, 1635, the privy council recommended to the king that the persons who took the leading part in deposing Harvey, Mathews, Utie, etc., should be ordered sent to England "to answer their misdemeanors, they being the prime actors in the late mutiny in Virginia." Just what was done in the case does not appear, but apparently before their case came to actual trial, they were allowed to return to Virginia and their prosecution dropped. On May 25, 1637, West, Mathews, Utie and Peirce petitioned the English privy council, stating that they had been lately sent prisoners, and that they had heard by recent letters that divers of their goods, cattle and servants, had been seized by order of Governor Harvey and begged that a letter might be written commanding that the property be restored. The petition was granted and the required letter written, but, in case of Mathews at least, a second order from the privy council was needed before Harvey would disgorge. Capt Utie probably died soon after his return to Virginia, that is, if he did return, of which there is no positive evidence.

[Page 94]
      Blaney, Edward, was in 1621, keeper of the "Colony Magazine," and in the same year was appointed factor and agent for the company organized to carry on a glass house, and was authorized to trade with the Indians. Blaney was a member of the house of burgesses in 1623, and was appointed to the council on March 4, 1626. He married the widow of William Powell, captain of Jamestown fort.

[Page 94]
      Macock, Samuel, was a "Cambridge scholar and a gentleman of birth, virtue and industry." In March, 1617, Governor Argall requested the authorities in England that Mr. Macock might be obtained. In June, 1619, Governor Yeardley appointed him a member of the council. The colony was not long to enjoy the benefit of his services, however, for upon March 21, 1622, he and four others were killed by the Indians on the estate on James river in Prince George county, now called "Maycox," then described as "Master Macock's Dividend in the Territory of Great Weyanoke." Councillor Macock probably left an only daughter, as in Jan., 1625, Sarah Macock, aged tow years, and born in Virginia, was living in the family of Capt. Roger Smith. She married George Pace, of "Pace's Pains," whose father Richard Pace had saved Jamestown from the Indians at the massacre of 1622.

[Pages 94-95]
      Ouldsworth, Mr., whose Christian name has not come down to us, enjoyed the distinction of membership in the council for a very brief season. Upon April 12, 1621, it was moved that since Mr. Ouldsworth, then in Virginia, had, when he was in England, "lived in that reputation and credit as befitted a gentleman in his rank and ability as justice of the peace, and of the quorum" he might be admitted to the Virginia council. This motion was "conceived to be very reasonable," and it was "therefore ordered that it be moved in quarter court, and besides some place should be thought upon" for the new councillor, "suitable to his merit and worth." On May 2, upon Mr. Smith's recommendation of his "worth and sufficiency," and as "having been a justice of the peace here in England for so many years, and of the quorum," he was formally "chose and confirmed of the council of state in Virginia," by the Virginia Company. On July 16, 1621, the company had received information of his death.

[Page 95]
      Leech, Mr. was appointed by a court of the Virginia Company a provisional member of the council of Virginia until he should receive confirmation by the next quarter court. This was on July 16, 1621. About August of that year, he went to Virginia in the ship "Marmaduke," but nothing more is known of him, except that the governor and council of Virginia, in a letter dated January, 1621, stated that they had administered the oaths to several new councillors, but not to Mr. Leech, "Who came not to us."

[Page 95]
      Wickham, William, a minister, though without Episcopal ordination, had charge of the church at Henrico. Rolfe, writing in 1610, speaks of "Mr. Wickham the minister there, who in his life and doctrines gives good instruction to the people." On June 19, 1617, Gov. Argall requested Sir Dudley Digges to procure from the Archbishop of Canterbury, permission for Mr. Wickham to administer the sacrament, as there was no other person to do it, and in the following March he desired "ordination for Mr. Wickham and Mr. Macock, a Cambridge scholar, and a person to read to (for?) Mr. Wickham, his eyes being weak." In 1621 the Rev. William Wickham was appointed a member of the council. Nothing further is known of him.

[Page 95]
      Davison, Christopher, son of William Davison, who was secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, was elected secretary of Virginia by the Virginia Company on June 11, 1621, to succeed John Pory. He came to the colony and was a member of the council in Jan., 1621, and Jan., 1623. He died soon after the last named date.

[Page 95]       Whitaker, Jabez, styled in the old records "Captain Whitaker," was probably a brother of the Rev. Alexander Whitaker, the early minister, as the father of that good divine had by his second wife, a posthumous son named Jabez. Capt. Whitaker was a member of the house of burgesses in Mar., 1623-24, and of the council in 1626. In the last named year he was living in Elizabeth City county. He married before 1619, a daughter of Sir John Bourchier, a member of the Virginia Company and uncle of the regicide of that name. Our councillor's name appears several times in the proceedings of the Virginia Company. On Jan 23, 1620, "Mr. Treasurer signified (that) having received notice of the good carriage of some persons in Virginia (he) was especially to recommend unto them one Mr. Jabez Whitaker, Lieutenant of the Company's men, who had given good account of the trust reposed in him," and in July, 1621, it was reported that "Mr. Whitaker had obeyed the Company's order in building a guest house (at Kicotan) and had also begun to plant vines, corn, etc.; it was therefore ordered as a reward, that two boys should be sent him, and that the reward of tobacco allowed by the Governor of Virginia should be confirmed."

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      Claiborne, William. The ancient family of Claiborne derives its name from the Manor of Claiborne or Cliborne, in Westmoreland county, England, near the river Eden, and which is named in the Domesday Book (A. D. 1086). William Claiborne was born about 1587 and came to Virginia with Gov. Wyatt in 1621, in the employ of the Virginia Company as surveyor-general of Virginia at a salary of thirty pounds a year, a house and, in all probability fees. He quickly became prominent in colonial affairs, and, in 1624, was commissioned by the King as first royal secretary of state, a position which he held off and on for eighteen years. In 1626 he became a member of the council. On July 22, 1629, he received a commission from Gov. Pott appointing him captain and commander of all the forces to be levied for a war against the Indians, and as a reward for the successful conduct of the campaign, was granted, in 1640, a tract of land on the Pamunkey river. In the latter year he petitioned the King to create an office which should have the keeping of the Virginia seal. The King referred the matter back to the governor and council of Virginia, who decided that such an office was appropriate and appointed Claiborne to fill it. In 1634 through the influence of Harvey he lost his place as secretary of state, but on Apr. 6, 1642, Charles I. appointed him treasurer of Virginia for life. He again commanded forces against the Indians in 1644, and again received a grant of land in reward. Claiborne was a great explorer and traded with the Indians as well as fought them. In 1627, the government of Virginia gave him permission to discover the source of Chesapeake Bay and explore any body of water between the thirty-fourth and forty-first parallels of latitude, and, on May 16, 1631, the King granted a license to "our trusty and well-beloved Wm. Claiborne" to trade in the colonies of New England and New Scotland, and commanded Gov. Harvey and the council to allow him to do so. Claiborne soon afterwards established a trading post on Kent Island near the present city of Annapolis, and this caused him to oppose with great persistence the efforts of the Baltimores to establish the colony of Maryland. When in 1632 that part of Virginia lying north of the Potomac was granted to Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore, the Virginians including Claiborne protested against it on the ground that it was a territorial spoiliation. They brought the matter before the King and urged that in revoking the charter and asserting control over Virginia both his father James and himself had given assurances that the intention was to alter the form of government, not to dispute property rights. The political existence of the colony remained as much a fact as before, and if the king could grant away Maryland, he could grant away Jamestown itself. The King and his commissioners of foreign plantations were nevertheless adverse to this view, and the legality of Baltimore's charter was upheld.
      The Virginians hoped, however, to except Kent Island from its operation on the ground that the Island was actually occupied by Virginia settlers. They argued that the assurances given at the revocation meant, at least, that actual occupation was to be respected. It made no difference whether Claiborne had any title to the soil or not, under his license to trade; the colony of Virginia had extended its laws over it, and the occupation was a legal one.
      When, therefore, Leonard Calvert, Baltimore's governor, called upon Claiborne to recognize his authority in Kent Island, the council of Virginia, to whom Claiborne referred the request considered the claim and declared that the colony had as much right to Kent Island "as any other part of the country given by his Majesty's patent in 1609." This particular phase of the question came before the King like the more general phase and was referred by him as in the former case to the commissioners of foreign plantations. It pended before them for several years, and in the interim feeling grew war. A miniature war developed and several persons were killed on both sides. Sir John Harvey interferred in behalf of Lord Baltimore, and this so incensed Claiborne's friends in Virginia that he was seized and sent back to England. At length, however, the commissioners in 1638 decided for Lord Baltimore and Kent Island, having been seized in Claiborne's absence in England by Capt. George Evelyn in behalf of Lord Baltimore, has remained ever since a part of Maryland.
      While Claiborne never admitted the justice of the decision, it does not appear that he ever tried again to set up Kent Island as independent of Maryland. During the disturbances of Richard Ingle (1645-1647) he visited Kent Island, but appears to have come over to look after his property rights, which had been confiscated. Instead of posing as a friend of parliament, he showed a commission and letter from King Charles I., by whom he appears to have stood till the King's death in 1649.
      After that time Claiborne went to England and espoused the parliament side, and Gov. Berkeley in 1650 declared the office of treasurer vacant on account of Claiborne's "delinquency."
      In Sept. 1651, Claiborne was appointed with Capt. Robert Dennis, Mr. Richard Bennett and Mr. Thomas Stegg on a commission to reduce Virginia to obedience to the parliament of England, an office which they succeeded in performing in Mar., 1652. They then repaired to Maryland and reduced that province also. The ascendency of Claiborne in Maryland was complete, but beyond renewing this property claim to Kent Island he did not treat if politically different from the rest of Maryland. In Virginia the two surviving commissioners Bennett and Claiborne shared the chief offices between them. Bennett became governor and Claiborne secretary of state. Maryland was only temporarily pacified. Lord Baltimore encouraged his adherents to resist and a civil war ensued and much blood was shed. The design of the commissioners appears to have been to have brought about the union of Virginia and Maryland again, but Baltimore won such favor with Cromwell in England that the contest was given up and his authority finally recognized.
      When the restoration of Charles II. took place, Claiborne was deprived of his office as secretary and removed from Elizabeth City, where he had formerly lived, to Romancoke, near West Point, the scene of one of his former victories over the Indians. Romancoke was then situated in the county of New Kent, which had been cut from York in 1654, when Claiborne was at the heighth of his power.
      The county was evidently named by him after his beloved Kent Island. Here he lived many years, siding with the government in the disturbances of Bacon's rebellion, and dying about 1677, when he was upwards of ninety years of age. To the last he remained unconquered in spirit, and as late as 1675, he sent to parliament a long recital of his injuries suffered at the hands of the Baltimores, asking satisfaction and urging the union of Maryland and Virginia.